SIGnificant Cards -- 2011 Cam Newton Press Pass Legends All-American Auto

He was drafted #1 overall in 2011 and many had written him off as a flash in the pan before the season began. In fact, this class in general had been criticized and ridiculed to some degree and at this point in the season, many of the former NCAA stars are heartily enjoying the last laugh.

Cam Newton set passing records in his first game, he clearly has the tools to play at the professional level, though his win/loss record might not show it. He is but one of many QBs that have been given the nod to lead their teams this season. Along with Blaine Gabbert, Andy Dalton and Christian Ponder, Newton is turning heads and is definitely a front-runner for rookie of the year honors.

NFL autographs are never at a shortage. There are hundreds of them in collectors hands just before and directly after the draft. To me, it used to be a big deal to get the cards of players in their NFL uniforms and also it had to NFL licensed. Now, I don't think about it so much. I know who the player was drafted by, I don't need the NFL shield to verify that it is a viable trading card. In fact, I've leaned toward more NCAA and college products because you get a solid autograph, most times on-card. Getting an autograph of an athlete before they are committed to sign their name on stickers a bazillion times is also clutch, because many times it becomes a chore to them. Let's face it, if you had to sign you name thousands and thousands of times, you'd get tired of it and there is a good chance they'd get sloppy, some even shorten their signature.

This autograph of Cam Newton comes from the 2011 Press Pass Legends product. I wasn't a big fan of the overall product this year. It wasn't because of the player content, or the lack of NCAA logos. The reason I wasn't a fan this season was because the photos were mainly of the guys from the neck up and there were no action shots.

Legends was released early in the year, before the season began and they already inked Cam Newton and others to sign for the product. Cam's autos were actually redemption cards in the product, but unlike some other companies, Press Pass had the signatures returned to them right after the product went live and they were fulfilled within a few days.

There are many reasons why this particular card holds a special place in my collection. Obviously one of them is because Newton is an outstanding athlete and my collecting goals are to acquire at least one autograph of the first-round draft picks of the NFL. It also is one of my favorites because while I don't like redemption cards, this one was turned around in less than a week and was easily the fastest redemption I've ever dealt with in this industry.

Card #AA-CN comes from the All-American insert set from the 2011 Press Pass Legends product. It's #'d to 250 and is an on-card auto! It also refers to Cam, as Cameron... a bit of a difference from the majority of his 2011 trading cards.